Woman, toddler son killed in metro pillar collapse in Bengaluru

A software engineer and her two-year-old child were crushed by an under-construction pillar that collapsed at a metro construction site in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning

Bengaluru: A software engineer and her two-year-old child were crushed by an under-construction pillar that collapsed at a metro construction site in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning, prompting the authorities to announce an investigation to probe allegations that safety norms were flouted.

People gather at the accident site where a half broken iron structure of a metro pillar fell, at Hennur Main Road in Bengaluru on Tuesday. (PTI)

The woman, identified as Tejaswini Kumar, 25, her husband, Lohit Kumar, 30, and her two children, Vihan, 2, and other 1-year-old, were on a motorcycle on way to a children’s daycare when a circular pillar collapsed at HBR Layout. Tejaswini and Vihan died of blood loss, while Lohit and the second child escaped unhurt.

“Today morning at around 10.45 am, a metro pillar collapsed and hit a bike, on which four people were travelling. Tejaswini and Vihan (son) were seriously injured and immediately shifted to Altius hospital. Unfortunately, they died,” said Bheemashankar S Guled, deputy commissioner of police (east).

Based on a complaint lodged by Lohit Kumar, police registered a first information report (FIR). “As per the information available, the construction was contracted to NCC limited. We will take action against the contractor,” the DCP added.

“My wife and children were travelling with me on bike. I was about to drop them off en route to my office when in a matter of a fraction incident happened. I’ve lost everything. Safety should be ensured so that such incidents don’t occur again,” Lohit Kumar told the media.

The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said a bunch of vertical bars were erected in a circular column to build pillar number 218 for Namma Metro’s 38.44-km KR Puram-Airport line under Phase 2B. The column weighing several tonnes and 30 feet tall fell along the busy road in HBR Layout, said officials.

Tejasvini is a software engineer and her husband is a civil engineer with a private firm in the city. The family, which hails from Gadag, lived in Hennur. According to family members, the duo were on the way to drop their children to a daycare when the incident took place.

“I was not aware that the pillar has collapsed. I thought it was natural to often get stuck in traffic congestion, but not the pillar that felled my grandson and my daughter-in-law. When the Metro Rail work is on, no one should be allowed to venture at least 30 metres close to the pillar, but vehicles ply within 5 and 10 feet, which only shows how unscientific the safety measures have been in place,” alleged Vijay Kumar, Lohit’s father.

Bystanders rushed the family to a nearby hospital. Both Kumar and Tejasvani were wearing helmets, but the children weren’t, said police.

“The mother and child suffered severe blood loss by the time they were brought to the hospital. We did all procedures to resuscitate them but they died during treatment. As far as we understand the woman suffered severe injuries even though she was wearing a helmet. The child was not wearing a helmet. The husband and other children, who were also taken to the hospital have not suffered any injuries. As per procedures, both bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” said Dr Mahesh SB, anaesthetic and an emergency specialist at Altius hospital, where the victims were brought.

BMRCL managing director Anjum Pervez announced a compensation of ₹20 lakh for the family of the deceased. “BMRCL will cover the entire cost of treatment of the injured persons. The construction work at the site will stop for two days,” he said.

“What has fallen down is a reinforcement structure, not a pillar. It was not a concrete structure. It has four ropes, and one of them seems to have broken. We aree asking the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) to provide a report on this incident. We will also get our internal team to investigate the matter. This is the first time something of this magnitude has happened,” he added.

BMRCL said a private company, Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) Limited, was responsible for the construction and they will be issued a notice. A preliminary investigation conducted by BMRCL revealed that the cast for the pillar was held in place by wires and one of the wires, which held the structure in place, gave away, leading to the whole structure falling over, said a senior BMRCL official

According to BMRCL, NCC bagged metro rail contracts worth ₹2,170 crore in 2021. This includes the contract for Namma Metro’s airport line. Calls made by HT to NCC went unanswered.

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that authorities will conduct an investigation to ascertain the reason for the accident. “BMRCL will conduct an investigation and police will take action against those responsible for the death, particularly the contractors. BMRCL has announced compensation. Apart from that, we will provide ₹10 lakh, each, from the CM relief fund,” he said.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said this was the result of corruption in the state. “There is no quality in the work,” he added.